Cambodia’s King Under Pressure to Delay Convening Parliament

Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni came under pressure Thursday from monks and civil society organizations to delay the opening session of the country’s parliament to give more time to the ruling and opposition parties for negotiations to end their election dispute. … A group of around 20 nongovernmental organizations said they would petition the King to hold off the Sept. 23 session of the National Assembly, or parliament, until the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) come to an agreement. The two parties had met in recent days and appeared to be making progress on “narrowing their differences” in talks initiated by the King after the CNRP refused to accept official results naming the CPP the victor in July 28 polls and threatened to boycott parliament. On Wednesday, Sihamoni ordered opposition lawmakers to attend the first post-election legislative meeting, pointing to a clause in the constitution that parliament must be convened within 60 days of the polls. … Also on Thursday, police in Phnom Penh blocked about 200 monks from marching to the Royal Palace to call on the King to convene parliament only after the political deadlock is resolved. The group of monks tried to hold a prayer for peace in front of the palace, but authorities said that they could not allow them to gather because the action would hold up traffic. After encountering police roadblocks, the monks decided to sit in the street and hold the prayer session, chanting and throwing lotus petals in the air. No arrests were made. … The CNRP maintained Thursday that all 55 elected CNRP lawmakers will boycott next week’s National Assembly session despite the King’s invitation, citing the need for an independent probe into election irregularities.

 Radio Free Asia Staff
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/boycott-09192013183259.html